Can someone tell me how long it should take to charge an 11.1 volt, 1400 mah Li-Ion battery in a 9303 transmitter? The battery is new, this is only the third time I've charged it; however, it takes over 8 hours to charge it and that's with the battery still reading 11.2 on the transmitter. Is this normal?

Q. What should the battery voltage read once charged?
A. All 7.4 volt Duralite plus lithium packs should read 8.2 to 8.4 volts with no load and 7.5 volt or better with a 1 amp load measured through the black lead. 11.1 volt packs should be 12.4 to 12.6 no load and 11.8 or better with a 1 amp load.

11.1 Volt Li-ion Packs reading off Transmitter

Stop Fly
10.8 volts

Fully charged
no load - 12.4 - 12.6 range

Your only like 4/10th volt above the stop fly recommendation. Sounds like the battery is not charging at all to me.

Charging with a new Duralite charger (1 tx and 3 rx model). When I began charging the battery read 11.2. After 8 hours the battery read 12.2. It took 9 and a half hours for the battery to read 12.5. After contacting Duralite their diagnosis is that the circuit is bad in the battery and they are sending me a new battery. As always, great service.

UPDATE: After receiving another battery it turned out that was not the problem. Next, they thought the charger was faulty. Wrong. Two batteries and two chargers later and it still takes over 8 hours to fully charge the transmitter battery. The next diagnosis was that the AC adapter was probably faulty. Wrong again. They sent me another one and the results are the same: 8 - 9 hours to fully charge the transmitter. However, I am able to charge the 1400 Mah transmitter battery off a 12 volt battery source and it takes under three hours for a full charge. Duralite says it should take two to three hours to fully charge the transmitter battery. I'd like to know how long it's taking others to charge their transmitter battery using an AC adapter. I'm using Duralite's Li-ion 11.1 v, 1400 Mah transmitter battery; Duralite's charger (1 Tx and 3 Rx terminals); and Duralite's AC adapter. Duralite seems to be puzzled by this and, quite frankly, I'm getting frustrated shipping parts back and forth with no success. Please let me know what your experience is using this setup for charging the transmitter battery. Thanks.

I guess I still don't get it. Why would anyone pay over $100 for a 1600ma battery when a 2100ma battery can be had for less than half the price? 1600ma is 1600ma whether it comes form a lithium, nicad, nimh, lead acid or any other type you can name. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of lithium receiver batteries, but I see no advantage in putting them in transmitters.

Bob

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I guess I still don't get it. Why would anyone pay over $100 for a 1600ma battery when a 2100ma battery can be had for less than half the price? 1600ma is 1600ma whether it comes form a lithium, nicad, nimh, lead acid or any other type you can name. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of lithium receiver batteries, but I see no advantage in putting them in transmitters.

Bob

Bob ,
I agree that mah is mah and the tranny does not know what chemistry the battery is that is supplying the power.
The biggest advantage for me in using lithium base batteries in transmitters is the weight difference between the batteries.
For example I used a 6 cell Li-Ion battery in my 9Z. This battery was wired redunant so that if there happen to be a failure of a cell. It would still supply the voltage to the transmitter, the only way to know the cell was bad, is that the capacity would be down.

That 6 cell Li-Ion pack compared to the 8 cell nicad or nimh pack was about 6 to 8 ozs lighter. And the nicad or nimh pack was not wired redundant. You lose a cell in it and the tranny is going to lose power.

Now some even use a 3S Li-Po pack in trannys. They weigh virtually nothing compared to the same nicad/nimh pack that can produce at least 9.6 volts and have the same mah capacity.
Taking 6 to 8 ozs of weight out the tranny makes a big difference when holding it for flying. I had other pilots that had a
9Z also. They would pick mine up and ask if there was a battery in it. LOL
David

This is easy for me, as I flew 7 flights this weekend on average the flight lasted 11 minutes. My charge on my radio was 11.7 at the end of the day. When I started the voltage was 12.3.

When I returned home and put the radio on charge, 1 1/2 hours later I was fully charged. Also, with my work schedule, it may be a week or week and a half before I can go again - the battery stay fully charged.